''Life's Work'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

series that aired from September 1996 to June 1997 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

; the show stars

Lisa Ann Walter Lisa Ann Walter (born August 3, 1963) is an American actress, comedian, and television producer, best known for her roles as Chessy the housekeeper in the romantic comedy film '' The Parent Trap'' (1998) and Melissa Schemmenti on the ABC mockum ...

as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, an assistant district attorney in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. Lisa Ann always wanted to practice law since she was young because she always argued with her parents. She also had a basketball coach husband named Kevin Hunter (Michael O'Keefe) who served as the patriarch of the family. Together, they raised a seven-year-old daughter Tess (

Alexa Vega Alexa Ellesse PenaVega ( Vega; born August 27, 1988) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Carmen Cortez in the first four '' Spy Kids'' films and Julie Corky in the 2004 film ''Sleepover''. In 2009, she starred as the title cha ...

) and a toddler son named Griffin (Cameron and Luca Weibel). During the entire run of the series, an electric guitar & piano instrumental was used as the show's opening theme. Walter helped Mark Mothersbaugh write the theme. Walter was an actress turned stand-up comic whose "voice" of a busy working mom became a top headlining act in the 1990s. ABC developed ''Life's Work'' for Walter, where she played a feisty feminist who could stand up to her mother in addition to her superiors at work. Walter received almost unanimous positive reviews for her portrayal of a harried working mother in a bold departure from the usual working mom shows where you never see the mom actually working. As of July 2022, 15 (of the 18) episodes are available to purchase on several streaming services including AppleTV, Amazon, and YouTube. In one of the episodes, Lisa Ann claimed to have a sexual affair with then-current American President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Cast

Main

as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter *

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor known for his roles as Danny Noonan in '' Caddyshack''; Ben Meechum in '' The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Bes ...

as Kevin Hunter *

as Tess Hunter * Cameron and Luca Weibel as Griffin Hunter

Recurring

* Larry Miller as Mr. Jerome Nash * Lightfield Lewis as Matt Youngster *

Molly Hagan Molly Hagan (born August 3, 1961) is an American actress. She co-starred in films ''Code of Silence'' (1985), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' The Dentist'' (1996), ''Election'' (1999), and '' Sully'' (2016), and is also known for her roles ...

as Dee Dee Lucas *

Jenny O'Hara Jenny O'Hara (born February 24, 1942) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for Dixie in ''My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988), Janet Heffernan in ''The King of Queens'' (2001–2007), and Nita in ''Big Love'' (2006– ...

and

Lainie Kazan Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actr ...

as Constance "Connie" Minardi *

Tara Karsian Tara Karsian is an American actress and writer. She is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll. Early life Karsian is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll and Lee Karsian. She is of Armenian descent through her father. Career Karsian began her ca ...

as Emily

Episodes

Cancellation

The show was put on hiatus after the episode "Neighbors" aired on January 27, 1997. Months later, having finished the season in 38th place with a 9.5 rating, the show was officially cancelled even though it held on to more than 90% of the viewers who watched the final season of ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

''.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book, surname=Damerini , first=Leopoldo, author2=Fabrizio Margaria , title=Dizionario dei telefilm , year=2001 , publisher=Garzanti , edition=1ª , editor=Garzanti , isbn=88-11-74000-2, ref=Damerini, Margaria 2001 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms 1996 American television series debuts 1997 American television series endings 1990s American legal television series 1990s American workplace comedy television series American English-language television shows Television series by ABC Studios Television shows set in Baltimore American Broadcasting Company sitcoms